Alan Dershowitz Biography

Fast Facts

• Was given the William O․ Douglas First Amendment Award for his "persistent advocacy in the struggle for civil and human rights" in 1983
• Graduated from Brooklyn College and earned his law degree from Yale University
• Got his start as a clerk for Judge David Bazelon and Justice Arthur Goldberg
• Best known as a lawyer and political commentator who has represented celebrity clients like O․J․ Simpson, Mike Tyson and Claus von Bülow
• Has published several nonfiction books, including "Trials of Zion," "The Case for Israel" and "Why Terrorism Works," as well as the fiction novels "The Advocate's Devil" and "Just Revenge․"
• Joined the faculty of the Harvard Law School at the age of 25 and later became the school's Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law
• Has been featured in a New York Times crossword puzzle, two New Yorker cartoons and a Trivial Pursuit question
• His book "Reversal of Fortune" was made into an Academy Award-winning film in 1990